As the Fire Dies
by shyesplease
Summary: Set during the movie, just after the campfire scene. Alex is having trouble going to sleep and is thinking over things, especially a certain someone. Jalex. OneShot. R&R.


She doesn't know how long it's been since he decided they should try to fall asleep. He wanted them to be ready for the day ahead since they had to make sure they didn't disappear by finding The Stone of Dreams.

The fire was growing dimmer and dimmer, and the forest around them was growing darker and darker. She was suddenly hearing noises she didn't before and felt scared to close her eyes.

How was she supposed to sleep anyway? With the looming fact that she and her two brothers could be non-existent come tomorrow, and her parents would have never met each other. Just because she had gotten angry and cast a spell she hadn't even known existed, which if you really think about it she didn't know many to begin with, but still, this was all her fault and if they couldn't do this, she doesn't know how she could deal with it.

She groaned quietly. Why did she have to mess up all the time? Justin said they could get the stone, and as much as she tried to believe him, she couldn't shake the feeling that everything was happening just to punish her. It seemed life liked punishing her in the most unusual ways…

A chill went through her body as she thought about not being alive, or her brothers not being alive, or not ever knowing her family or friends. Never knowing Justin would be the worst blow though.

He was laying with his back to her, and she was laying with her back to his, but she could still feel the heat of his body on her back, could still feel his presence next to her, which was the only comfort she seemed to have at the moment.

She couldn't seem to close her eyes. What if she woke up tomorrow and he wasn't there? Or what if she wasn't there…?

She would never hear her little brother Max say something completely irrelevant and idiotic. She would never see Harper in one of her outrageous outfits that she secretly thought were amazing, but of course only for a person like Harper to wear. She would never get to be Daddy's little girl again, and see his goofy grin. She would never get to hear her mom yell at her for breaking the lamp for the nth time, or smell her home-cooked meals. And she would never be able to prank and tease Justin, or receive those perfect hugs only he could give her.

She was never going to be able to do or see anything she once loved, and took advantage of, ever again if they couldn't get this stone.

Another chill went through her body. She had to stop thinking about these things. Justin said that they were safe for at least another day.

Justin. She wasn't even sure if he was asleep or if he was just tackling his thoughts in his mind as much as she was. She wanted to call out to him, but was scared to wake him if he was sleeping. She'd already placed him in another situation that he shouldn't have been caught up in. The least she could do was let him sleep if he was.

So she stayed quiet.

When she felt her eyes drooping, she tried to force them open, because every time she would close her eyes, the images of Justin by the campfire would show up. How the fire seemed to dance in his gorgeous green-gray eyes, and make his skin look golden to the point she wanted to touch it to make sure it wasn't. Or at least that's what she forced herself to think.

What if this was her last moment with Justin? Sure she'd revealed a lot to him prior, but they were stuff a sister would be expected to say to her brother in the crisis they were in, but she'd barely touched upon what other feelings she was holding back.

They were speaking quietly, their knees almost touching. It was such a delicate moment, and such a sweet, sincere moment. Was she so selfish to want more out of it?

Well she could be that selfish, but not now when things were so…serious.

She thought about their sleeping arrangement. She wanted them to be facing each other. She wanted his strong arms wrapped around her, protecting her. She wanted to bury her head in his chest, to hide from this situation for just one moment, and hear his heart beat. She just wanted to feel the warmth and comfort she associated with the hugs he had given over the span of her life. She wanted to touch his hair, and stroke it, and touch his skin…and touch his lips with hers…

She bit her lip. She wanted to do all these things but they were never going to happen. For someone who seemed so confident and sure of herself on a daily basis, she was scared shitless of Justin rejecting her.

All she wanted was to look into those green-gray eyes of his and tell him what she has been hiding from him for years. She wanted to tell him that she loved him, well to be more technical, was in love with him.

She couldn't though. As much as she wanted to, she didn't want to. This might be her last chance to tell him about these feelings, but what if he stopped talking to her afterwards, and things didn't go perfect like they hoped and they couldn't get the stone. She doesn't think she could live with the fact that the last thing she had to remember was that he hated her.

She'd rather keep her silence, and if this did end up being one of their last moments together she wouldn't have to think he hated her. She could disappear with at least the hope he felt the same.

She muffled her cry in the crook of her arm. The tears were slowly tracing down her face, the salty taste reaching her lips. She quickly wiped them away only for them to be repainted with more tears, and she didn't bother anymore.

She lay quietly, hoping to hear for a sign that he was still awake, but all she could hear was his even breathing.

Alex tried to swallow more of the tears, but they wouldn't stop, and these thoughts of her family and Justin kept popping up in her head, and they just created more of a mess.

She sighed, giving up. Why try to keep up an image that might not even exist this time tomorrow?

She tried to get herself in a somewhat comfortable position, even though she knew the best place would be in his arms, and closed her eyes. Even though Justin's face showed up once she shut them, she lived with it.

Alex reached one hand back, to stretch, when she felt his arm. She opened her eyes in surprise, but then shut them again, her tiredness getting a hold of her now.

She took his hand with hers, holding it, letting the warmth of it take her to her dreams, where life was actually nice to her, and she wasn't fighting for her existence or in love with her brother.

* * *

**A/N: **I was just thinking about how Alex and Justin could have possibly slept when all of this was occuring and got this idea. I tend to think a lot when I can't get to sleep so Alex kind of is doing the same. I hope you enjoyed it.** Do you think I should eventually do Justin's side? Let me know in a review! =)**

**** Thanks so much for _Jessamyn_ for editing it! =D**


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